The Fight and the Destruction of Ghetto Bia łystok December 1945 Testimony of Dr. Szymon Datner Published by the former students of the Białystok Yiddish-Hebrew Gymnasium Translated from Polish to Hebrew by Tzipora Eker-Survitz Tel Aviv – January 1989, see: http://www.zchor.org/bialystok/datner.htm Translated from Hebrew to English by Bella Bryks-Klein and edited by Ada Holtzman, Tel Aviv – September 2010 In memory of the 200,000 Jews of the Białystok region murdered by the Germans Published on the internet in the website commemorating the Białystok Community initiated by the Białystok Landsmanschaft in Israel, and with the assistance of Mrs. Ewa Kracowska who checked the Polish spelling of the various names and places and added important comments I dedicate this web site with the authentic testimony of Dr. Szymon Datner , to Staff Sergeant Alexander Maszewicki and to Captain Omer Rubinowicz (grandson of Zevulun Rubinowicz from Białystok) , who fell in battle, Operation "Cast Lead" Gaza 2009. Alexander was the great grandson of the mathematician Abraham Maszewicki , director of the Yiddish-Hebrew Gymnasium Staff sergent Alexander in Białystok, grandson of Joel Maszewicki , Captain Omer Maszewicki of Rubinowicz of blessed partisan and a fighter against the Germans in blessed memory ,, fell memory, fell in battle, WWII and Lisa Maszewicki , née Czapnik , a in battle, Gaza Gaza 8.1.2009, in the courier and a member of the Białystok 6.1.2009, in the age of 22 only age of 24 only underground. Ada Holtzman, Tel Aviv 31.8.2009 Lisa Maszewicki , neé Czapnik The 16 th day of August 1943 closes a tragic-filled page of the Jewish History of Białystok, a period that began on June 22 nd 1941, and was filled with indescribable suffering and torment that succeeded in the murder of 200,000 Jews. The Germans registered another easy victory, a complete victory in the war against the Jewish people. The Germans did not immediately physically destroy the Jews; from their point of view it was a kind of humanistic procedure towards which the "master race" did not have special intentions. At first, they sucked out their victims' vitality. They degraded their human dignity, they pushed them to the depths of financial ruin, they tortured them in a sophisticated manner of excruciating tortures and only then did they murder them: they knew no mercy, they spared no one – the baby in its cradle, a helpless old man, a defenseless woman, all were declared enemies, all of them were to be annihilated. The German death machine worked smoothly, thoroughly, with German precision, and with German inhuman cruelty. When the German army entered the populated areas, they sowed death and destruction everywhere among the defenseless civil population, and they especially singled out the Jews, who were the first to be marked for destruction. After the mass killings, the atmosphere of terror escalated, its purpose being to suppress any desire or attempt to fight back. The Eastern territories were too large to be filled completely with gendarme. Only the fear from the gendarme was enough to keep the conquered peoples reined in. The Map of Ghetto Białystok. The darkened region at the bottom right is the area where the revolt had been. The events that took place in Białystok after the outbreak of the war between the Soviet Union and Germany was a crushing blow to the Jews. The Germans entered the city on June 27, 1941 and immediately burned alive 800 to 1,000 men and young boys in the Great Synagogue. Afterwards, they burned the Szulhof (the yard of the Great Synagogue) and began the mass executions, by shooting pedestrians, and in this way, they murdered another 1,000 persons. That same fatal Friday morning, a larger mechanized unit of Germans were concentrated on Siena Square (at the end of Mazowiecka Street); the Germans drank alcohol, and drunkenly, they surrounded the Szulhof. The massacre began at 8:00 A.M. The Germans were divided into small groups. Armed with automatic guns and hand-grenades, they began to hunt Jews in the narrow alleys surrounding the Great Synagogue. Dante's pictures from Hell could be seen in the streets. They drove Jews out of their homes, stood them up against the wall and shot them. From everywhere, wretched groups of Jews were being led to the Great Synagogue which was burning in a huge fire, and from within could be heard horrible heartbreaking screams. The Germans forced their victims to push one another into the burning synagogue. Those who refused were shot, and their bodies were thrown in. After a while, the entire area was in flames. The soldiers threw hand grenades into the wooden houses which easily caught fire. The sea of flames that surrounded the entire Szulhof poured into the Legionowa, Stolarska, and Rynek Ko ściuszki Streets. Until late in the afternoon, they drove the Jews into the burning synagogue, shot them in the streets and in their homes. The sound of exploding grenades mingled with the sounds of the gunshots, the shouts of the drunken Germans and the heart-breaking cries of the victims being murdered. Towards the women, the Germans were "chivalrous". In principle, they did not kill them. But they forced them by beating and screaming to leave the burning area quickly, and before their very eyes, murdered their husbands, brothers, sons and fathers. In one instance, their great "chivalry" was displayed: Ida Lewiatanska née Kriwiatynska was 8 months pregnant, and when she ran from the Hell of Szulhof together with several other women and men, she encountered the Germans who shot about 200 Jews behind the Miodowka House on Legionowa Street. An older German saw Ida 's predicament, and let her escape. The synagogue burned several days. A fact worth pointing out about Białystok Jews about that "Black Friday": The Polish janitor of the synagogue (name unknown) took advantage of the momentary distraction on the part of the Germans, opened a window on the back wall, and through it, dozens of Jews managed to escape, among them Pesach Frojnt , the brother-in-law of the aforementioned Ida Lewiatanska . Frojnt died a few days later among the "Thursday"'s dead. In the flames of the Great Synagogue were killed, among others, Dr. Kracowski known to all, the limping pharmacist Polak , the outstanding chess player Zabłudowski , and the popular entertainer Alter Szteinberg . The harvest of "Black Friday" was about 2,000 dead; the Szulhof neighborhood was burned and with it the following streets: Chazanowicz, Szkolna, Ciemna, Głucha, Stoarska, Zamojska, Suprasl śka, Miodowa, Śledziowa, Brzozowa, Wersalska, Ordynacka, Legionowa. The Fish Market and Rynek Ko ściuszki were greatly damaged. "The Friday" massacre shocked the Białystok Jews, but far worse experiences were to befall them in the not too distant future. On Thursday, July 3, 1941, the first hunt took place: about 300 Jews, mostly belonging to the Intelligentsia, disappeared without a trace. They became known as "The Thursday Victims". On Saturday, July 11, 1941, another hunt took place, this time on a larger scale: about 4,000 men were taken from the city by bus, and as it was revealed later, were shot in Pietrasze, about 2 kilometers from Białystok. These became known as "The Shabbat Victims". The Germans set a ransom fee of 5 kilograms of gold, 20 kilograms of silver, as well as Soviet money, and in order to humiliate them, the Jews were forced to wear a yellow patch on their clothes. On August 1, 1941, they were closed into a ghetto. Check-up in the entrance to the Ghetto The "Judenrat" (Jewish Council) that was formed at the command of the Germans, actually had a single function: to supply the Germans with manpower that was abused without mercy and that helped the Gestapo rob Jews of their property in broad daylight. From the regions of Szczecin, Grajewo, Tykocin, and Wasilków and smaller areas, reports were received of terrifying mass murders, encouraged by the Germans, by the local black reactionaries, and by hooligans. In autumn 1941, the exile of the "non-workers" began to Pru żany. This was a terrible path of suffering and brutality. About 6,000 Jews were transferred to Pru żany and housed in homes of White Russians who were exiled to hard labor in Germany. Jewish refugees from Vilna who came to Białystok told horrible tales about Ponary Paneriai in Lithuanian) and of the Lithuanians. Shocking reports came about the massacre in Slonim on the 14 th of November 1941. Murder, humiliation, robbery, looting – these were the methods used by the Hitlerists towards the Jews until their last dying day. The sudden change caused depression and destruction in the mental state of most of the Jewish ghetto-dwellers, who were desperate, accepting their fate, and awaiting helplessly for their death or for a miracle of survival. But a group of youths recovered quickly from their helplessness and realized that the only way to act which human instinct dictates to all Jews is to fight the conqueror. In autumn 1941, small groups of young Jews began to organize themselves, setting for themselves a goal to help the thousands of Russian soldiers imprisoned in the large P.O.W. camp, in the barracks of the 10 th Infantry Regiment. The captives were cruelly oppressed, beaten and starved, frozen from the cold, tired from hard labor, and many died. In the ghetto, they secretly began to collect clothes, food, cigarettes, medicines, as well as money for the prisoners. Young Jewish boys and girls organized this project. Those who worked outside the ghetto conveyed these gifts to the Russian soldiers. On the barrack grounds, this was managed by Zelig Dworecki and Abrasza Gerszuni , together with a group of activists.